Like its predecessors in the long-running series, NBA Live 2000 strives for realistic basketball simulation rather than arcade-like gameplay. New moves have been added in this installments, and opponent AI has been tweaked to make victory more dependent on executing the right moves at the right times. As in the previous NBA Live games, it is possible to edit and create basketball players, as well as create and build an own team. This time, it is also possible to use any picture to serve as a player photo.

New to this installment (beside Jordan) is a one-on-one street basketball mode, and a mode that allows management of a team for several seasons, including trading players.